A - The First Gospel

We have seen that the nature of man itself was transformed, as a result of the fall. Consequently, Adam passed on to his descendants a heavy legacy, for he bequeathed to them a sick and worn-out nature, whose lot is death and corruption. So how can the descendants of Adam, that is, all of humanity, be saved?

In order to accomplish man’s salvation, a “root” had to appear; a new Adam, in place of the old root. Humanity needed a “father,” a new leader who would reconnect man’s nature with God and make him a sharer in God’s life once more. But man could not find this “father” on his own, because he was descended from the old Adam and was condemned to corruption and death (Wisdom of Solomon 2:23). Man’s nature itself had to be healed, and man had to reconnect his renewed nature with God, the source of his life, so that he might return to life (John 3:36; 14:6; 1 John 5:12, 20).

Man was unable to accomplish this alone. It was necessary for God Himself to take the decisive step. God, who loved man with an “everlasting love,” showed this love even on the day of the fall itself, when He said to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

From the “seed” of the woman will come one who will crush Satan and his works, and will be the new expected leader. And all who descend from him will not be subject to the power of corruption and death.

b- Waiting period

The history of the Old Testament longed for the coming of the “seed” of the woman, Christ, and depicted the new connection between God and people in the church. God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants (Gen. 9:9), and assured Abraham that his barren wife Sarah would bear a son whom God would make ruler over many nations (Gen. 17:6), “for in Isaac your offspring shall be called” (Gen. 21:12). The apostle Paul referred to these prophecies, emphasizing that they were fulfilled in the person of Christ: “For not all who are descended from Israel are sons of Abraham, nor are they children of Abraham, though they are his offspring. Rather, ‘in Isaac your offspring shall be called.’ That is to say, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are those who are counted as his offspring” (Rom. 9:6-8).

The children of Abraham are those who believe in the name of Christ (see Galatians 3:7-9). Paul refers to God’s promise to Abraham: “Now the promises were to Abraham and to his seed; and he did not say ‘his seed’ in the plural, but ‘his seed’ in the singular, that is, Christ” (Galatians 3:16; cf. Gen. 12:7; 13:15-16; 15:4-6; 17:7-8; 22:18). From the covenant of Abraham humanity looks forward to this “seed” through whom all the families of the earth will be blessed, the Messiah (Gen. 22:18; Acts 3:25-26).

Then God renews the same covenant with Isaac, Abraham’s son (Gen. 26:4, 24) and with his son Jacob, making a very clear reference to the work of the Lord. After Jacob had received the blessing and the call to become the father of many nations (Gen. 28:3-4), “He went out from Beersheba and went to Haran. And he came to a place where he lodged, at the time of sunset… And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder stood on the earth, and its top reached to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood on the ladder, leaning against it. And he said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac… All the families of the earth shall be blessed through you and through your descendants. And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will not fail you… Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven’” (Gen. 28:11-17).

The “seed” of the woman who will crush the serpent is the “seed” of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be the starting point of blessing for the whole world, a unique ladder that unites earth with heaven, and man with God who is at the top of the ladder and “leaned” on it, assuring Jacob of the fulfillment of the awaited promise. This place through which God works, and to which he calls Jacob, is characterized by holiness, and is a prefiguration of the Church, that is, the true homeland of man to which Christ has restored him. It is “the house of God and the gate of heaven,” as Jacob himself repeated. And the Lord affirms that “the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from his loins, until he comes whom the peoples will obey, and who will be the hope of all the nations” (Gen. 49:10). The prophet Isaiah makes this clear when he refers to Jesse, a descendant of Jacob: “A shoot will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a shoot will grow from his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:1-2). “In that day the root of Jesse will be raised up as an ensign for the peoples; the nations will look for him, and his resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). The Apostle Paul refers to this prophecy, affirming that it was fulfilled in the person of Christ (Romans 15:8-12).

Isaiah prophesies that “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and his government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Counselor, Wonderful, God, Mighty, Father forever, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Then the prophet describes the work of Christ’s salvation, and his redemption of man with his blood, which he offered, of his own will, for us: “For he took our infirmities, and bore our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed… He was brought, and yet he opened not his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth… For the transgression of my people the plague fell upon him… Because he had done no violence, neither was guile found in his mouth. Yet the LORD was pleased to bruise him with injuries; for when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hands. “For the travail of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; and by his knowledge the righteous shall justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:4-11). The Ethiopian could not understand this prophecy, but the apostle Philip, who went to meet him at the Lord’s command, explained to him that it related to the person of Christ (Acts 8:31-35).

Isaiah was not the only prophet who spoke about the Messiah. Almost all the prophets spoke about Jesus, the incarnate God, and about their anticipation of his coming. David said in the Psalms: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you clothed me with flesh. You did not require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, ‘Here I come, it is written about me in the volume of the book, to do your will, O God’” (Psalm 39:7-9).

The Holy Spirit teaches us in the New Testament that these prophetic sayings mean that the Son speaks to the Father through the mouth of the prophet David, referring to his divine incarnation (“You have clothed me with flesh”), and to the offering of his body once for all “for man’s sanctification and salvation” (Heb. 10:5-10).

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews explains the verse from Isaiah: “Here I am, and the children whom God has given me” (8:18) by saying: “Since the children are partakers of blood and flesh, he himself also partook of the same, that by his death he might destroy him who had the power to kill, that is, the devil, and deliver those who had been subject to the fear of death all their lives. For he did not rise to help angels, but to help the seed of Abraham. Therefore he was to be made like his brothers in all things” (Heb. 2:13-17).

The prophet Micah had previously prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and that his origin and beginning would go back to before the days of creation, that is, he would be the beginning of the ages (Micah 5:10). The New Testament indicates that this prophecy was fulfilled in the person of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 2:6). The prophet Daniel described the incarnate God more clearly: “And I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

The “seed” of the woman, then, will not be an ordinary human being, nor God’s chosen one, nor a prophet, nor a national hero, but will be “a mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6) and “like a Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13), that is, Jesus the incarnate God.

C - “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled” (Luke 4:21)

It is true that all the prophecies of the Old Testament testify to Christ (John 5:39), but they remained in the “shadow” (Heb. 10:1), under a “mask” that “remains undisclosed to this day when the Old Testament is read, and which none but Christ can remove” (2 Cor. 3:14). Therefore the Church sings in the service of the first hour of the day before Christmas: “Be ready, O Bethlehem, and let the manger be ready, and let the cave receive, for the truth has come, and the shadow has passed, and God has appeared to men from the Virgin, bearing our image, and deifying our whole nature. Therefore Adam was renewed with Eve, crying out: ‘The good pleasure (Christ) has appeared on earth to save our race.’”

The “seed” of the woman and the “root of Jesse” and the Savior of the world is Christ (Matthew 1:2-6, Luke 3:23-38). Thus all the Old Testament prophecies pointing to the Savior were fulfilled in the person of Christ.

Isaiah had prophesied about the wonderful works of the expected Savior: “Behold, God! The reward of God is present; He will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing. For the waters will burst forth in the wilderness, and the brooks in the desert. The mirage will be turned into a brook, and the thirsty land into springs of water. In the den of the jackal where he lies down, the green reeds and the bulrushes will appear. And there will be a path and a way there, which will be called the holy way; the unclean will not pass through it, but it is theirs. Whoever walks in the way, not even the fools will go astray. No lion will be there, and no wild beast will climb up against it; they will not be found there, but those who are saved will walk in it. And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to their city with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads, and gladness and gladness will follow them, and sorrow and sighing will flee from them” (Isa. 35:4-10).

Christ confirmed that this prophecy was fulfilled in his person, and that it is fulfilled in the church that gathers in his name. He said about his works: “These works that I do bear witness about me” (John 5:36). When John the Baptist’s disciples asked him if he was the one they were waiting for or if they were waiting for someone else, he replied: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5).

The Lord referred to the prophet Isaiah, saying: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-21, see Isaiah 61:1-2).

Simeon the Elder confirmed the fulfillment of God’s promises in the person of Christ, as it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not taste death before he saw the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26). When the divine child was brought into the temple, that righteous man, guided by the Holy Spirit, came and embraced the boy and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all peoples, a light for the guidance of the Gentiles…” (Luke 2:29-32).

But how can God become a human being? And not be encyclopedic (encyclopedic) in a woman’s womb?

The incarnation of Christ is an indescribable mystery, and we are called to believe in it, so that we may worship the Lord with the Virgin Mary, the righteous Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi. The Holy Church expresses this mystery in the magic of Christmas: “How did He who could not be contained be contained in the womb? All this was done as He taught, as He willed, and as He pleased. For He, being free from the body, became incarnate by His own choice, and He who is became for our sake what was not. He shared in our nature, without being separated from His divine essence. Christ was born in two natures, desiring to fulfill the world above.”

D - Adam II

We have already mentioned that Christ is the one in whom the promises were fulfilled (Gen. 12:7), the leader of the New Testament people (Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 3:16; Acts 3:25), and the Savior of the world (Lk. 2:11). The Bible describes him as “the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29; cf. Heb. 2:11) and “the second Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45).

“The first man was of the earth, so he was earthly; the second man is from heaven. So like the earthly are those who are earthly, like the heavenly are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, so we will bear the image of the heavenly. For I say to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit the incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 15:47-50).

This passage clearly indicates that it is man’s descent from the “new Adam,” that is, from Jesus Christ, that saves him. This is the fundamental truth that the Bible repeats more than once: “For if many people died through the trespass of one man, much more will the grace of God, which was given by one man, Jesus Christ, be abounded to many people” (Rom. 5:15; cf. John 3:6; 1 John 1:2-3; Eph. 2:14-18).

Through the first Adam, death came into the world, but resurrection comes through the second Adam, that is, Christ. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ they will be made alive. Christ is first, because he is the firstborn; then those who belong to Christ will come after him at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).

When we say that man is saved by his descent from the new Adam, that is, Christ, we mean that the Lord, the incarnate Son of God and His Word, was able to connect man to the life of God anew. Faith in Christ Jesus, “the incarnate Son of God, who was crucified, suffered, was buried, rose again, ascended into heaven, and is to come again” is necessary and fundamental for our salvation (see 1 Corinthians 15:14; Heb. 2:9-18; Eph. 2:14-22).

Christ is “the head of the body, that is, the head of the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, so that he should have primacy in all things. For God willed to make all perfection dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things, both on earth and in heaven, for he made peace by his blood on the cross” (Col. 1:18-20). “And you who were once strangers and enemies through evil thoughts and deeds, behold, today he has reconciled in his own flesh, when he delivered him over to death, to present you in his presence holy and blameless, if you continue in the faith, steadfast and unmovable” (Col. 1:21-23). “But now in Christ Jesus you who were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, and has made the two into one, and has broken down in his own flesh the barrier of separation, that is, the hostility between them, and has abolished the law of commandments and its ordinances, to create in himself one out of the two. After he had made peace between them, he became a new man and reconciled them to God. He had put an end to the enmity by his cross, so that they might become one body. He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near, because through him we all have access to God in one Spirit.”

“Therefore you are no longer strangers or foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. For in him every building is held together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:13-22).

St. Athanasius the Great says: “In order to be clothed with the creature, He became similar to us in the flesh, to be called our brother (Ps. 21:23, Rom. 8:27, Heb. 2:11-12) and our firstborn (Rom. 8:2, Col. 1:18, Heb. 1:6, Rev. 1:5). Although He became a man after us, and a brother to us in the likeness of the flesh, He is our firstborn. For death took possession of all men through Adam’s disobedience, but His flesh was first summed up and set free, because He was the flesh of the Word. Thus He is greater than us. And since we are partakers of the flesh, we are saved with Him, and He is called the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:27) because of the kinship of the flesh. And He is called the firstborn of the dead (Col. 1:18) because the resurrection of the dead took place through Him and after Him. He was called the firstborn of all creation because of God’s love for people, which made them not only created through the Son, but also that this creation, which the Apostle Paul said was eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19), would be set free from the slavery of corruption to share in the freedom of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:21).

Thus, in Christ we have become “a new creation,” “a new man” (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15). This is the new good news that Christ brought to the world. The apostles who spread this message were called “ministers of reconciliation,” that is, ministers of peace.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a ‘new creation.’ Everything old has passed away; behold, everything new has become. And all this is from God, who reconciled us through Christ and entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. For God reconciled the world in Christ, not holding their trespasses accountable, but by our lips he gave them the word of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We therefore implore you in the name of Christ, be reconciled to God…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

“Today the mystery that preceded the ages is revealed: the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, in order to give us the best by taking the least. Adam of old failed and did not become God as he desired, so God became man so that Adam might become God. Let creation rejoice and let nature be glad, for the Archangel stood modestly before the Virgin, and offered her joy instead of sorrow. O our God, who in the compassion of your mercies became man, glory to you” (On the Matins of the Feast of the Annunciation).

All that we have mentioned confirms that Christ is one and only, and that whoever “believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever does not believe in the Son will not see eternal life, but will incur the wrath of God” (John 3:36; see John 14:6; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 4:12).

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own house, and his own household did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become sons of God, to those who believed in his name. He was not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but God begot him” (John 1:13).

Whoever does not acknowledge that Christ is “the one Lord and Master” (Jude 4) exposes himself to the danger of destruction (Jude 22) because he is a false Messiah and a false prophet (Matthew 24:5, 11, 24).

There is only one possibility of salvation, according to the word of God, and it lies in Christ and in the integration of man into his body, the Church (Rom. 6:1-11; Gal. 3:27-29). Those who preach salvation in any other way, however, do not follow the Spirit of God (see Isaiah 45:21-25; Rom. 14:9-11).